


The Darkest Light

by Flaming_Skulls



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007), Transformers Generation One
Genre: Adoption, Child Abandonment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Flashbacks, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Injury Recovery, Just read, Lockdown is a great dad, Lockdown is a sap for his sparkling, Omg these tags did a complete 180°, Other, Past Child Abuse, Pre-War, Sparklings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Torture, don't let the tags fool you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 04:51:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6456640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flaming_Skulls/pseuds/Flaming_Skulls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles, shorts, whatchyamcallits in which Lockdown discovers something that opens him up to a whole other world he didn't think he was allowed into. He takes to being a bounty hunter AND a father in stride. </p><p>A.k.a</p><p>Lockdown finds a baby and goes into mom mode.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Darkest Light

**Author's Note:**

> Ya like what I did with the title?
> 
> Will add more writings and tags as I go along. Unbeta-d so all mistakes are mine. Do not own Transformers or Lockdown. Only Darklight and the stories. (But if I did things would be different lemme tell ya) Not in any specific universe, just any with Lockdown.
> 
> (If any are curious as to what Darklight looks like, he has black body armor and a neon green stripe along his left side.)

Lockdown was docked in one of the ports of a nearby planet from Cybertron. It was a finicky, shady place that held the objective he was hired to take care of. Of course, being the best in the business meant he got his assignment done ahead of the allotted time and was now taking the rest of his stay at ease. Or, as much ease as he could get in a place like this. After only a matter of hours within his assignment's completion, there was a ruckus at his ship's door, banging and shushing, before it stopped. Lockdown growled and grabbed the nearest weapon as he made his way to open the bridge. When it opened, he was greeted by the dark night, no sound of the intruders noticeable. That was until weak crying was heard at his feet. The bounty hunter gazed down and spotted a small Cybertronian sparkling writhing on the dirtied floor next to the opening. It may have only been a few weeks old.

Lockdown was stupefied.

There was a cracked datapad, static flowing across its screen and must've seen better days, that had a barely readable message written on it next to the sparkling.

_"Dispose of it as you wish"_

The ruthless mech had done countless actions that made even the Decepticons cringe. He was cold blooded, unaffected by emotions, _deadly_. _**A killer**_. It was no surprise whomever delivered this sparkling came to him to get rid of it. And yet, despite how his reputation portrayed him, the large, battered mech reached down and gently lifted the tiny offspring. Before doing anything else, he stepped down and smashed the despicable sign to pieces in one swift motion of his ped, immediately shutting the entrance of his ship afterwards. Now alone, he cradled the sparkling in his large servos, examining its pitiful state. The first thing he noticed were the dents, the scratches, the energon covering the tiny body. May have been treated like an object rather than a living life form. The second was that he was malnourished, deprived of its vital supplements for long periods of time. 

Lockdown had no idea what to do with the bot now that he had him, but what he did know for sure was to make sure he stayed alive.

"C'mon, kid, let's see what I can do."

=======

Lockdown never got a good look at his kid's optics because they were always either closed or unfocused due to his recovery. The bounty hunter had decided to hell with it and kept the sparkling after months of searching for a place for him; thus calling him his kid. The Decepticon-Autobot conflict was gaining ground with more places and beings becoming paranoid. It was really beginning to bug the scrap out of him.

Since he had decided on keeping the sparkling, he also had to give it a name. Darklight was the most suitable option for his tastes. Lockdown enjoyed the bit of irony within the assertive sounding designation. It had been months, however, and the mech was slightly, inwardly, concerned as to why his kid wasn't opening his optics fully. 

Another month later, he was in the middle of feeding Darklight when he noticed his optic lids gradually rising up. Lockdown's breath hitched weakly in anticipation when he realized that those optics were focusing on him. Wide optics stared at him with startling focus, as if already knowing who Lockdown was. Not only were Darklight's owlish orbs extremely fixiated on him, but they were the most unique green ever seen on a sparkling. Lockdown had difficulty pinpointing a full grown mech with green optics.

"Kid, you're a diamond in the ruff, you know that?"

Darklight squealed happily and reached up to Lockdown's face with his tiny servos, seeing his savior clearly for the first time rather than a blurred, distorted image.

=======

Darklight doesn't remember much from when he was a sparkling, but what he can recall has him shuddering in his berth at night from the intensity of the memories. He remembers the stench of high grade energon around and on him as he lay on a dirtied floor that had been drenched in transfluids and lubricants. He remembers the feeling of dangling in between continuing to be online and joining the Well of Allsparks every day because of starvation. He remembers the feeling of servos clenched around him or recognising the feel of a fist beating down on his too delicate armor. He remembers crying. A lot.

Nights like this, he is found in a huddled corner of the Knight's Terminus, trembling as he holds back sobs because crying is weak. His berth will be abandoned and unkempt. He vowed one day he'd find his spark carrier and sire, the damned junkies, and confront them. Kill them. Darklight had told Lockdown about these feelings, these motives, and was comforted. He supported him. In a rare chance of luck, he would find himself cradled in the powerful arms of his adoptive father. In those moments, different memories arose.

He would remember being cradled with absolute care, remember being fed everyday and not once a week. The smell of gun oil and deep space would comfort him, not scare him. He remembered soft words of calm and amusement. He remembered being healed, feeling better than he ever had in his months of life. 

He remembers opening his optics for the first time and seeing a mech that should've killed him but didn't. A mech that took him in and loved him far better than his spark parents.

He was thankful that in those moments, those memories, he was abandoned for Lockdown to find.

========

They never specified if they wanted this mech alive. Shackled and beaten from a rough struggle, lay a broken captive. Lockdown glared at him and watched as his prisoner glared back. He had caused quite the commotion on his ship and couldn't wait to drop off his capture and collect his bounty. He had bigger concerns than this piece of scrap.

Energon ran down his mouth and he was forced to heave out a cough in order to not choke as he was forced to lay on his back. Lockdown was grinning.

"My favorite assignments are the ones that don't specify the bounty dead or alive. I wanna have my fun with ya before I let ya go. Get a lil trophy outta this too..." A hook swung down and lodged itself in the middle of his chassis, expertly missing his spark. With the twist of a joint, the hook pried open the spark chamber with a groan of shattered metal. Lockdown's captive let out a howl. 

"Hey, hey. What did I say about making a ruckus. Better be careful of what ya do on my ship, fragger." Clamps were placed to keep the spark chamber open as the hook was traded for a hammer. With a sharp grasp, the bounty hunter opened the prisoner's mouth and slammed the hammer down on already shattered dentae. The mech screamed out again and kicked his legs. Bits of useless scrap metal was now traveling down his intake making him gag more. Energon splattered against Lockdown's armor as he watched with indifference.

The bounty spat chunks at his face.

"ROT IN THE PITS!" In a swift motion a large servo wrapped around his spark and he let out another shriek of agony.

"I dare ya to keep yelling."

Suddenly there was meager crying, that of a sparkling, erupting down the halls of the ship. It wasn't that of pain, but that of distress. Lockdown scowled at his suddenly confused dissection.

"You fragging woke my baby...," He growled in the darkest tone he was able to use. His bounty stared with wide optics, confusion and fear washing through his circuits. The mech knew of Lockdown and his gruesome reputation, but no bot mentioned a slagging sparkling in all the stories that revolved around the hunter. Was he really so depraved to attack the little ones as well?! Yet, he seemed so angered, not at the fact a sparkling was crying for attention on his ship, but that his prisoner woke it. Did Lockdown really have an heir?

With a final slam of the hammer against a leg strut, Lockdown left the chained mech to tremble in pain by himself.

Lockdown entered his private quarters that were located at the other end of the Knight's Terminus. The crying sparkling continued his grievances until he spotted the bulky mech at the doorway. He quieted for a fraction before starting again, albeit less louder this time.

"You got lungs, kid, I'll give ya that." Instincts kicked in from there.

He made his way to the crib after wiping down his servos on a cloth. No way was he going to let some pathetic mech's Energon even get near his little sweetspark. He picked him up as gently as he was able and cradled him against his chassis.

"Shh, sh. It's okay, Darklight...Daddy's got ya..." He rocked back and forth, gently swaying his arms to and fro in order to ease the youngling. The crying died down after a few rotations. Lockdown continued to rock the sparkling, staring down at his adopted son's easing expression. He lifted a finger to wipe away the streaks of fluids from his cheeks.

"There, there, tiny. It's okay..." Darklight began to coo and wave his little servos and arms up at Lockdown. The bounty hunter smiled softly, something completely new to him up until he took in this sparkling. He couldn't imagine life without him now.

"Did Daddy's work wake ya, kid? Don't worry, Daddy's gonna take care of it, okay my little sweetspark?" Darklight smiled up at him innocently as he continued to sleepily babble. The looming bot leaned down and placed a light kiss against the tiny helm before placing the sparkling back in the crib, tucking him in, and left silently.

When he returned to his torture chamber, he was met with the questioning optics of his capture. His scowl reset itself on his faceplates. He shoved a rag into the leaking mouth of the captive and snapped another leg strut out of place. He got to work prying open the armor and snipping Energon lines, leaving just enough to drag on his time. Let this fragger pay for disturbing his little sparkling. He began to whistle as he worked.

"I'm gonna enjoy making you suffer." He said in a conversational tone, as if he didn't fry the voice box of the tied down mech with a torch. The weeping bot had all his internal circuits on display, able to feel every shift and twitch. 

"I think I'll take your spark as a trophy. It could be something my little one can enjoy when he's old enough to understand where I got it from. He is, after all, going to be part of the family business."


End file.
